Today we are speaking with a living legend, Steve Cotter. Steve is a two time all American Kosho Martial Arts Champion and was named one of the fittest men of all time by Men’s Health Magazine. He is the creator and director of the International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation (IKFF). He is a world renowned trainer and has been featured in leading fitness magazines and blogs. He also is the guy behind Steve Cotter’s Kettlebell University, and the creator of several instructional DVDs.

Steve has gone around the world and shared his experience and has taught people how to move better. Kettlebells are a big part of what he has done, but he is really about teaching movement and the things that drive movement like breathing and posture. He created IKFF in 2008, as an opportunity to share his ideas on how to develop kettlebell instructors. He does certification seminars all around the world. He is also a husband and father. Enjoy the interview!

Today’s topics include:

Unconventional workouts such as using the mace, kettlebell dragon twists, and fitness as play

IKFF is not about kettlebell sport they are about fitness and health and taking care of your body. The kettlebell is a tool that they use

Steve connected with Pavel Tsatsouline early on and was invited to be one of his assistants

Steve also saw that there were opportunities to learn other facets of kettlebells

Pavel is the godfather of kettlebells, he and his partner put them on the map in the US

Valery Fedorenko was the first person who taught concepts of kettlebell sport outside of Russia

As a student of movement, Steve wanted to learn what he could

Steve is more interested in knowledge and learning instead of defending his position as an expert

As a teacher, Steve feels he has a responsibility to continue to refine his knowledge

Breathing, posture, fundamental movement and finding balance are universal principles from one person to another

Kettlebells were never designed to be a one rep max, the progression is based on repetition because it is a fixed weight

Martial Arts gave Steve a platform before kettlebells were well known

After 200 reps with a kettlebell, you own that weight and can move up

Compression shorts – for safety, so thumbs don’t get caught during high rep workouts

Steve has done a lot of Chi Gong and has a passion for internal training

He moved away and focused on the physical, but now he has moved back to focusing on the internal training

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Thanks again for your support, we hope you enjoyed the show, and look out for another show next week.

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